March 9, 2014

Dailykos:The Vaccination Intervention

Anti-vaxxar refers to anti-vaccination, a group of people who believe, despite all recent studies and evidence, that vaccines don't work and/or are a lethal threat. In the modern form it started about 20 years, borne of the concern that childhood vaccines were responsible for the onset of autism. It was worth looking into as the two were correlated: the first signs of autism often appear right around the same time children are first innoculated.

That link has since been well investigated. From time to time some suggestive evidence would appear, but it could never be independently verified, while studies showing no link were confirmed over and over. The evidence quickly mounted that vaccines were safe. The final nail in the coffin came about 10 years ago, when it was discovered that one of the few credible researchers purporting a link had cooked the data. But pseudoscience can gain a life of its own, divorced from facts or evidence. An entire anti-vax profession had developed, it now depended on hyping the danger to sell books and generate page views. This professional class of anti-vaxxars spun ever more elaborate conspiracies and ominous consequences to explain away the growing body of evidence against them and short circuit skepticism in the minds of frightened parents, and they haven't stopped since.

One of the most pernicious and more recent lies is that not only are vaccines useless or dangerous for the recipient, it is the vaccine that's causing the disease! The government is in cahoots with the drug companies, intentionally tailoring vaccines to keep the disease active, because it's good for business! The evidence for this whopper usually consists of claims that an outbreak of one disease or another disproportionately includes patients who were vaccinated—even though simple arithmetic shows the attack rate in unvaccinated populations is much higher—therefore it must be caused by the vaccine.

To put that gem of ignorance in terms even the average wingnut can grasp, it's like saying gun owners get shot by bad guys all the time, so having a gun offers zero protection. For the rest of us, it's like arguing you might as well leave your car keys in the ignition and the doors wide open, because locked cars get stolen every day.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/09/1282633/-The-Vaccination-Intervention?showAll=yes

March 9, 2014

National GOP turns on Florida candidate

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Their frustration had been mounting for weeks. But by late January national Republicans had had it with David Jolly, their candidate in Tuesday’s nationally watched Florida congressional special election.

The candidate had just told the state’s top political reporter that he disagreed with an ad the party was airing against his Democratic opponent — a spot paid for with the nearly $500,000 the GOP had already spent on Jolly’s behalf.

“Are you f—-ing kidding me?” a senior National Republican Congressional Committee official told a Jolly staffer over the phone, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. Would the Jolly campaign prefer that the NRCC stop spending money in the race altogether? the official asked.

Over the past week, a half-dozen Washington Republicans have described Jolly’s campaign against Democrat Alex Sink as a Keystone Cops operation, marked by inept fundraising, top advisers stationed hundreds of miles away from the district in the state capital and the poor optics of a just-divorced, 41-year-old candidate accompanied on the campaign trail by a girlfriend 14 years his junior. The sources would speak only on condition of anonymity.


http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/david-jolly-alex-sink-florida-special-election-2014-104397.html#ixzz2vRbfkXot

March 9, 2014

Early voting indicates advantage for Alex Sink in Florida.

There are about 100,000 outstanding absentee ballots, which the election supervisor has mailed out but not received and/or been voted yet. The current 100,245 voted ballots (including absentee and a small number of early in-person ballots) account for about 22 percent of the district’s registered voters or 44 percent of the likely voter electorate if there’s 50 percent turnout.

Right now, the data tell us The Democratic Party is doing a slightly better job than it did in 2012 in the district, when registered Republicans outvoted registered Democrats by 5 percentage points.

As of last night, that 5 point turnout edge by Republicans has been cut by Democrats to 2.5 percentage points – the exact registration lead that the GOP has over Democrats in the district.

About 41.8 percent of absentee and early in-person ballots have been cast by Republicans and 39.3 percent by Democrats, as of election data posted last night.

In 2012, Republicans’ early/absentee vote total was almost 3.9 percentage points higher than Democrats. They then blew away Democrats on Election Day voting, by about 7 points. But Obama won the district anyway, by about 1 point, likely in large part because of the large number of third- and non-party voters in the moderate district.

This time around, the Libertarian Overby is poised to get a chunk of those independents, especially if the campaign remains this negative. The poll averages indicate he draws slightly more Republican votes than Democratic votes. And if the race is tight, this could make a difference that haunts the GOP.


http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2014/03/with-7-days-to-go-alex-sink-looks-like-cd13s-winner-for-now.html#storylink=cpy

March 9, 2014

Paul Ryan's Free School Lunch Story Never Actually Happened

Personal Note: When it comes to school lunches, I am a full-blown socialist who believes the program should be available to every kid free of charge, regardless of income.


Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) fired up the audience Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference with an anecdote about what he called the heartlessness of giving out free school lunches -- but it turns out that "moving" story never really happened.

Ryan used a story about a young boy choosing a lovingly made brown bag lunch over a free school meal, relayed to him by Wisconsin Department of Children and Families Secretary Eloise Anderson, to illustrate that Democrats offer Americans a "full stomach and an empty soul."

But a shrewd TPM commenter observed that the anecdote closely resembled a book. From there, Wonkette picked up on the fishy tale, followed by Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler.

Kessler gave the story "four pinocchios" because Anderson presented it out of context.

H found Anderson told the story at a 2013 congressional hearing that Ryan chaired, and claimed she had spoken to the boy herself. Kessler notes the story closely paralleled an exchange from a book called "An Invisible Thread," in which an executive offers to either give a young, homeless panhandler money to eat for the week or else make lunch for him each day. The boy insists on having his lunch made for him in a brown-paper bag, because that means "somebody cares" about him.

A spokesman for Anderson told Kessler that the secretary "misspoke" and was actually describing a television interview she had seen with Maurice Mazcyk, the boy described in the book. Kessler further noted that school lunch is not brought up in the book, which means Anderson inserted the program into the anecdote.

Ryan wrote Thursday on his Facebook page that he thanked Anderson for sharing her insights but regretted "failing to verify the original source of the story."

The author of "An Invisible Thread," Laurie Schroff, spoke with the Huffington Post about Ryan's CPAC remarks and the origins of Anderson's anecdote. She asserted that her book was not "political" and disagreed with Ryan's "full stomach and an empty soul" comment.

"I want people to think about what they can do to make the world a kinder world," Schroff said. "I don't care about Republicans and Democrats. But we are talking about children that need to be fed. Cutting school lunch programs doesn't accomplish that."


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/paul_ryan_school_lunch_never_happened

March 8, 2014

Louisiana state library funding has been eliminated

Citing budget concerns, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed a $25-billion budget that eliminates almost $900,000 in state funding for its libraries. In a statement, the governor’s chief budget aide, Paul Rainwater, said, “In tight budget times, we prioritized funding for healthcare and education. Operations such as local libraries can be supported with local, not state dollars.”

On Thursday, Library Journal took a look at that assertion. What they found was that while some local parishes may be able to cover the funding gap, others will feel the loss. Rural parishes will face a particularly daunting challenge.

One of those parishes is Concordia, located on the Louisiana-Mississippi border. Library Journal spoke to the Concordia Parish Library's director, Amanda Taylor.

“There’s no longer a food stamp office; there’s no longer a social security office. In our rural parish, a lot of our people have low literacy skills and very few computer skills. They come to the library because all of that has to be done online. There are some offices in some bigger areas but there’s no mass transportation and a lot of our people do not have transportation to a place that’s two hours away. A lot of our people have children in the military and they come to email their children that are all over the world on these bases. And almost all of the companies require you to do a job application online, even if it’s just for a truck driver who doesn’t need to be great at computer skills, so it is very important that we offer this service."

Concordia formerly got $12,000 per year from the state, which it used to “keep up all of the maintenance [on its 52 PCs], buy new software, and to buy new equipment as needed.”

With that money gone, Concordia plans not to buy anything new, and hopes all its old equipment keeps working. Maintenance costs will have to come out of the materials budget. In the meantime, Taylor is already working on getting the funding restored. “We are already talking to our legislators about the next budget,” she said. “We are going to work really hard to make the legislators understand how important it is in these rural areas because citizens depend on the public library. We’re going to hope for the Legislature to open their eyes to what we do every day.”

Libraries have drawn the attention of lawmakers faced with continually diminishing budgets. Pomona recently saw its public library threatened with closure. In New York City, $96 million in library cuts were proposed -- after a strong showing of public support, $90 million was restored.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/06/louisiana-eliminates-state-funding-for-libraries.html#sthash.8GY2104m.dpuf

March 8, 2014

How do I bring topic up to wife without sounding sexist?

During my period of unemployment, I was Mr. Mom. In between job interviews I took the kid to school and picked him up, Cleaned and straightened up the house, washed the dishes, did the laundry, pretty much everything. I didn't mind because. Now, it seems to be my turn to be working and hers to be unemployed. And on the those days when she's home all days, the place looks like a disaster. Like everyone else, I'm working harder for less than the job I had before, so I barely have the energy to help the kid with homework, much less all the chores I see not being done. I feel too timid to bring it up because A) I give her all the credit for working while I was unemployed and B) I don't want to sound sexist. But at the same time, I want to be abler to work at a desk that is not cluttered with food and coffee mugs. How would you handle this?

March 8, 2014

Texas teen arrested for killing wife-beating stepfather.

CARTHAGE, Texas — Investigators say an East Texas teenager has been charged with killing his stepfather to stop an attack on the youth's mother.

Panola (puh-NOH'-luh) County jail records show 17-year-old Koby Yoder of Carthage was booked Thursday on a murder charge and freed on $25,000 bond.

Sheriff's Chief Deputy John DePresca on Friday said 43-year-old Leonard Digiliormo (dee-juh-LOR'-moh) was punching and beating his wife when her son intervened. DePresca says Yoder retrieved a handgun and fatally shot Digiliormo Wednesday night at the family's home near Carthage.

The woman's 13-year-old daughter was also present. DePresca says the mother and both teens told investigators that the woman was being attacked. She was treated and released from a hospital.

Jail records do not list an attorney for Yoder.

http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/east-texas-teen-charged-with-killing-stepfather/nd7gg/

March 6, 2014

It's David Dewhurst vs. Dan Patrick in Texas lieutenant governor runoff

AUSTIN — Houston lawmaker and radio host Dan Patrick, riding a wave of GOP voter frustration with establishment politicians, zoomed past incumbent David Dewhurst to a first-place finish in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor Tuesday.

While he still must face Dewhurst in a May 27 runoff, Patrick’s commanding performance in his statewide debut electrified staunch conservatives and surpassed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s first-round performance in 2012.

On Tuesday, Patrick finished with a double-digit lead over Dewhurst. He won’t have to play catch-up, as Cruz did successfully when he overcame a 10-point deficit in the initial voting to crush Dewhurst in a runoff by more than 150,000 votes.

“Tonight, the people’s voice took the first step of going to the lieutenant governor’s office of the state of Texas,” Patrick told supporters in Houston. He credited his finish to the tea party, staunch conservatives and grass-roots efforts.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20140305-it-s-david-dewhurst-vs.-dan-patrick-in-texas-lieutenant-governor-runoff.ece

March 6, 2014

Someone tells a truth about abortion.

A Democratic lawmaker in Alabama on Tuesday claimed that Republicans who oppose abortion would be supportive of the procedure "if their daughter got pregnant by a black man," according to the Birmingham News.

State Rep. Alvin Holmes (D) made the comment in response to Rep. Mary Sue (R), who compared a bill that would ban abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat to the landmark Supreme Court case Brown vs. the Board of Education.

"Ninety-nine percent of the all of the white people in here are going to raise their hand that they are against abortion," Holmes said, according to the News. "On the other hand, 99 percent of the whites that are sitting in here now, if their daughter got pregnant by a black man, they are going to make their daughter have an abortion."

"They aren't let her have the baby. Listen, you know the truth sometimes hurts," he continued. "All this stuff about abortion and this and that -- that’s just a con game. That’s for whites, it ain’t for blacks."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/republicans-abortion-daughter-black-man

March 3, 2014

Neo-Nazis Pour Into Kiev

A stream of European jihadists have traveled to Syria to wage holy war. Now a group of European neo-Nazis are traveling to Ukraine to save the white race

In early February, Fredrik Hagberg stood at the rostrum in Kiev’s City Hall, offering fraternal and comradely greetings from Sweden to the sweaty, bruised, and exhausted Ukrainian insurrectionists scattered throughout. The place was festooned with flags—some celtic crosses, a stray Confederate banner, a standard for the political party Svoboda, whose members essentially controlled the building—reflecting the dubious politics of its occupiers.

Revolutionary tourists, thrill seekers, and parachute journalists suffused Kiev. Sen. John McCain, actress Hayden Panettiere, and French intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy roused massive crowds with paeans to freedom and national sovereignty, while offering moral support to the opposition forces led by former boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko.

But Hagberg, a square-jawed and baby-faced member of the Swedish armed forces, had a darker message.

“I stand before your forces of revolution to tell you about what your future might be if you fail your glorious endeavour,” he said in fluid-but-clipped English. “I stand here as a Swede. However where I come from is no longer Sweden.” Hagberg warned Ukrainians that a successful revolution must chart a path that carefully avoided the evils of abortion and ethnic mongrelization, one that harshly punished welfare abuse and rejected the normalization of homosexuality. “Officials in Sweden like to calls us the most modern country in the world. I say to you, brothers, this is what awaits you if you choose to follow our example. You now have the opportunity to choose and create your own future. Do not accept the trap of choosing either the West or Russia.”

It’s unclear who, if anyone, invited him, but Hagberg was speaking as a representative of Nordisk Ungdom (Nordic Youth), a Swedish neo-Nazi group that celebrates “a traditional ideal of a better man, striving for something greater and more noble than his own personal benefit; an idealistic man who fights for Europe’s freedom.” Visitors to the group’s English-language website are met with with a Barbara Kruger-like advertisement beseeching visitors to “help us to help the revolution! Support a free Ukraine! Donate Now...” Because Hagberg is trying to provoke his fellow neo-Nazis into travelling to Kiev to help shape a new, fascist-friendly Ukraine.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/28/the-swedish-neo-nazis-of-kiev.html